Goa: White casinos turning into white elephants

The floating casinos moored in the River Mandovi are proving to be white elephants both for their owners as well as the government, as the owners have not been able to earn any amount as most of them are not operational and the government has been deprived of the entertainment taxes because of the same reason.

Offshore casinos are seen anchored in river Mandovi. Most of the casinos have not been operating.

According to sources in the casino business, the government's flip-flop and its "anti-casino" measures have prompted them to stop operations, even as the decision of the government to increase the entry fee by 10-fold from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 has forced the gamblers to keep away from going to casinos. The only casino operational is Casino Royale, which too was facing dearth of clients because of high entry fees, said the sources. "The ten-fold hike in the offshore casino entry fee – Rs 2,000 per visitor — has resulted in substantial drop in the number of clients," they maintained, further informing that most of the patrons of the offshore casinos in Goa are attracted to a Singapore-based casino, just as another one is on the verge of being opened in that country.

The Resorts World Sentosa casino in Singapore was opened on February 14, earlier this year, while a US $5.5-billion Marina Bay Sands casino is all set to roll the dice this April, in that country.

"We are already feeling the pinch as the Indian tourists have stopped visiting the offshore casinos due to the high entry fee," the offshore gaming industry sources stated, further pointing that allegations about the navigational interference caused by the offshore casinos are also creating problems for their owners. Sources in the government said the revenue likely to be generated by way of various taxes, including entertainment tax, was likely to fall drastically. The government has, however, been able to collect licence fee of Rs 5 crore from each of the owners of the seven casinos anchored in river Mandovi.

After MV Caravela, MV Casino Pride (of Goa), Casino Royale, King's Casino, Leela's Casino Rio renamed Mint Casino and Maharaja Casino, all anchored in River Mandovi, the latest offshore casino to enter the Mandovi waters is a three-storey Mississippi River-type paddle boat christened as MV Boa Sorte. Faced with bleak future and no end to the problems faced by them have "forced" some of the foremost casino owners to 'dispose' them of. The state's first floating casino, M V Caravella, would soon be taken over by the management of Casino Royale.